A long‐standing problem in the geological evolution of the India‐Asia collision zone
is how and where convergence between India and Asia was accommodated since
collision. Proposed collision ages vary from 65 to 35 Ma, although most data sets are
consistent with collision being underway by 50 Ma. Plate reconstructions show that
since 50 Ma ... read more ∼2400–3200 km (west to east) of India‐Asia convergence occurred, much
more than the 450–900 km of documented Himalayan shortening. Current models
therefore suggest that most post‐50 Ma convergence was accommodated north of the
Indus‐Yarlung suture zone. We review kinematic data and construct an updated
restoration of Cenozoic Asian deformation to test this assumption. We show that
geologic studies have documented 600–750 km of N‐S Cenozoic shortening across, and
north of, the Tibetan Plateau. The Pamir‐Hindu Kush region accommodated ∼1050 km
of N‐S convergence. Geological evidence from Tibet is inconsistent with models that
propose 750–1250 km of eastward extrusion of Indochina. Approximately 250 km of
Indochinese extrusion from 30 to 20 Ma of Indochina suggested by SE Asia reconstructions
can be reconciled by dextral transpression in eastern Tibet. We use our reconstruction to
calculate the required size of Greater India as a function of collision age. Even with a 35 Ma
collision age, the size of Greater India is 2–3 times larger than Himalayan shortening.
For a 50 Ma collision, the size of Greater India from west to east is ∼1350–2600 km,
consistent with robust paleomagnetic data from upper Cretaceous‐Paleocene Tethyan
Himalayan strata. These estimates for the size of Greater India far exceed documented
shortening in the Himalaya. We conclude that most of Greater India was consumed by
subduction or underthrusting, without leaving a geological record that has been
recognized at the surface. show less